Convention and Visitors Bureau gets more county lodging tax money

The Charleston Area Convention & Visitors Bureau will get a bigger slice of Charleston County's lodging tax this year.

And the tourism group has agreed, starting next year, to assist Charleston County Council by reviewing applications from other groups hoping for lodging tax money and making recommendations on which groups to fund.

The bureau last month asked County Council for additional money to compensate for a more than $500,000 cut in state funding. Included in a list of groups that will receive money from the county's accommodations fee in fiscal year 2009 is an additional $540,000 for the bureau.

The group already receives 10 percent of the county's 2-percent tax on hotel rooms and vacation rentals. That's about $1 million each year, said Helen Hill, the bureau's executive director.

The additional money was critical for the bureau to maintain marketing and advertising, Hill said. The bureau uses the money to promote tourism in Charleston through print, Internet and television advertisement.

Read more in Thursday's editions of The Post and Courier.